Hypertension causes changes in the structures of the blood vessels and heart. While kids with hypertension are unlikely to have heart attacks and strokes, it still has significant risks. What complications are associated with hypertension? The rise in the number of children with primary hypertension in the United States is thought to correlate with the rise of obesity. it’s often thought of as not something that really affects kids.it can be difficult to measure in infants and young children.And there’s reason to believe that hypertension is vastly underdiagnosed in children, since: A recent study that looked at 15,000 adolescents found that nearly one in five had hypertension. Hypertension is becoming increasingly common in children and adolescents. Stage 2 hypertension-anything higher than 99 th plus 5 mm mercury.Stage 1 hypertension-95 th – 99 th (plus 5 mm mercury).Pre-hypertension-90 th to 95 th percentile.That’s because there are no universal cut-offs as there are for adults instead, whether a child has hypertension depends on how his blood pressure compares to his peers (determined by gender, height, and age). Stage 2 hypertension-systolic ≥160 or diastolic ≥100 mmHgīut it’s harder with children.Stage 1 hypertension-systolic 140-159 mmHg or diastolic 90-99 mmHg.Pre-hypertension-systolic 120-139 mmHg or diastolic 80-89 mmHg.Normal blood pressure-systolic

It’s easy to tell whether an adult has hypertension, because there’s a standard set of measurements: The bottom number refers to the pressure when the heart is at rest-“between beats” (diastolic). A typical normal blood pressure in an adult is 120/80 mm Hg, or '120 over 80.' The top number refers to the pressure when the heart is pushing blood out through the arteries (systolic). In hypertension, the level of pressure is higher than normal.īlood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

Hypertension means “high blood pressure.” This refers to how hard the blood is pushing against the walls of the artery through which it flows-not how quickly it flows.

Low blood pressure chart by age